Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – Not just facilities and tools, but professionals involved in planning, organizing, and managing care pathways: this is where the implementation of the community healthcare reform comes into play. Community centers are called upon to respond to citizens' health needs and strengthen local care, particularly for chronically ill patients, preventing the hospital from becoming a point of reference for needs that could be met by local services.
Along this path, the contribution of outpatient specialists was central to the roundtable discussion "The reform of local healthcare without outpatient specialists risks failure," held at the 58th national Sumai Assoprof congress, currently underway at the Ergife Palace Hotel in Rome.
The discussion highlighted the transition from the creation of facilities to their operation: from the participation of specialists in diagnostic and care pathways to the centrality of professionals in community homes and hospitals, and the role of bargaining.
A common thread runs through the interventions: strengthening local specialists to make care more effective and enable hospitals to better perform their duties. Starting from this need, a statement states, the involvement of specialists must translate into concrete participation in defining care pathways, as emphasized by Antonino Trimarchi, president of Card Italia: "Calling them protagonists means that they participate in the planning, organization, and management of the diagnostic care pathways that will pass through the Community Houses."
From participation in treatment pathways to the operation of the facilities, the key issue remains that of the professionals called upon to implement the reform.
Francesco Zaffini, president of the Senate's 10th Committee on Health, Labor, Welfare, and Social Affairs, emphasized this point: "Starting in 2027, the issue will change completely: the priority will be on the professionals who must operate community homes and hospitals. Healthcare is created by the people who work there, not by machines, walls, or tools."
The centrality of professionals translates, in turn, into the new facilities' ability to respond to citizens' needs and strengthen the connection between the community and the hospital. Andrea Costa, expert on PNRR implementation strategies for the Ministry of Health, focused on this function of community homes: "Specialists," he said, "can make a fundamental contribution, and community homes must serve as a cornerstone for creating a filter within the community, enabling hospitals to operate more effectively and ensuring that citizens' health needs are met."
In addition to the role of specialists in organizing services, the discussion also addressed contractual matters, focusing on issues to be discussed with the trade unions. On this front, Marco Caroli, coordinator of Sisac, reiterated: "We are always fully available to address all the issues the trade unions bring to the table."
From service organization to contractual discussions, the statement concludes, the ultimate goal remains meeting patient needs. This is the goal that Antonio Magi, Secretary General of Sumai Assoprof, brings to the closing remarks, emphasizing the role of outpatient specialist care in providing care in the community and reducing the need for hospitalization. Revitalizing specialist care thus becomes the thread linking the role of professionals and the strengthening of local services, starting with an area that has been neglected over the years: "The work of specialists is crucial because it allows us to care for patients in the community, avoiding their need to go to the hospital. It is a concrete indicator of the importance of specialist care, which has been somewhat neglected over the years and which we must now revitalize and strengthen."
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